World meat industry news

Belarusian beef deliveries to Russia will continue, informed head of the Foreign Economic Activity Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Alexei Bogdanov, reports BelTA.

Rosselkhoznadzor has imposed temporary restrictions on the import of beef on bones and cattle from countries that do not have the official status of the International Epizootic Bureau (OIE) on spongiform encephalopathy.

“This prohibition applies not only to Belarus, but also to all countries that do not have the appropriate status. There is nothing wrong with that. There have never been any cases of spongiform encephalopathy in Belarus. But the OIE has rules that this fact must be confirmed by certain methods. In Belarus we use the histochemical method, and the OIE requires the use of an immunological method. We have been following this path for a long time, there is an appropriate state program. We need to equip the regional veterinary laboratories, buy reagents for these studies. Some of the regional laboratories are already fully equipped, some complete the equipment. This year we will begin monitoring on this disease in Belarus, we will take samples from the bone marrow of animals, "said Alexey Bogdanov.

 "The new import rules Russia applied only to meat on bone, the rest of the meat can be supplied. For Belarus, it is even more profitable, because we ourselves will process the meat to the final product and export it chilled or frozen. We will create jobs, increase the volume of deboned meat and deliver it at a higher cost to Russia. The need for beef is still there, only the structure of the supply will change", - said the head of main department of foreign trade.